Whenever I’m building furniture with curved pieces, I often produce a template. This helps in the layout of the work piece with respect to grain direction/selection and offers me a life size visualization of the finished piece. This also gives me the ability to reproduce that piece in the future without having to “reinvent the wheel.”

The upholstered chair cushions for the dining chairs use a 3/4” Birch plywood insert as a platform. I cut the plywood using a circular saw and table saw. I then pattern route the chair insert and add round overs to prevent upholstery fabric from ripping and to help shape the upholstery foam.